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Honestly, that would have been a telephone report for a lot of places, including us, prior to COVID protocols. There are a few runs we're not responding to any longer that we used to, notably property damage only crashes, and even that has been SOP for some places for years prior just due to manpower issues.

I hope our brass learns a few things from this:

1) We don't need daily roll calls. Letter day changes is plenty and the way things Used To Be (tm) before knee jerking made it daily.
2) Supervisors can do everything from their car they can do in the office with few exceptions.
3) A lot of things we currently do on paper can be done more betterer electronically. People who want paper copies can print them. Says the guy who just printed the slate because I like a paper copy but recognizes he's out of touch with technology.
4) Logistics don't have to be centralized. We are quite capable of managing distribution of consumable items at the district level. I have not seen any evidence of people taking more than their allotment as I think everyone understands the need to make sure their buddies have access as well.
5) A lot of what we use sworn officers for could be accomplished by non-sworn civilians (which, btw, city ordinance says is supposed to be minimized) and a lot of what we respond to doesn't actually require a response. I'd like to see response time data for serious runs, although of course proactive stats are going to be tanked since we aren't supposed to be doing much of that.
6) We actually were pretty prepared for this with few exceptions. Honestly, the Super Bowl years back probably contributed a lot to that. We got a bunch of PPE and equipment in case of Large Scale Shenanigans, which luckily didn't occur. I have multiple masks and a full marshmallow suit in my trunk.
7) Making a single point of contact, something of an ongoing incident commander, could have been done a bit earlier and saved some confusion as multiple layers of brass tried to Do Something (tm) and were sometimes contradictory. It didn't take long to sort it out, though.

All told, I've been pretty satisfied with how the admin has handled things.

Had we gone to paperless when it was promised to us (1999/2000 era), we could basically shutter three buildings and save on whatever the overhead is on running four buildings instead of just one HQ and working out of the cars.

When all this broke open, I asked our secretaries why they were still showing up to work and they told me they were told that, even though we closed the building to the public, they had to show up and do whatever it is they do all day. Now, after we have had a patrol officer pop hot, they now sent them home some days out of the week....which is silly.....as they can do everything from home. They need to be home for good.....and do their jobs from the living room with laptops set up for them. Matter of fact, they need laptops instead of desktops anyway for just this type of scenario. Unplug them from the monitors and take them home with them.

Our sergeants, LTs and Captain can all work from their cars, we clock in electronically with GPS verification, and most of us just use the precinct for bathroom breaks, a small kitchen/break room, and to gather more forms that we should be doing electronically at this point. The state mandated we do our crashes on E-Crash and it works real well for us, for the records folks, and for the people that need the reports after their fender benders. We should be doing criminal case reports on them.....and that would solve the problems of having to keep paper on hand. Plus, it would be more sanitary than passing all that paper around....and since we body cam our entire day, the signature thing in times of pandemics could be skipped altogether as there is video proof of the complaint archived in mainframes.

Of course the brass would worry about uniform standards and officers showing up unshaven, disheveled......whatever. I'd counter with listen to the radio for a change and drive out to the calls at random and check on your people. My sergeant does that and he and I used to work together. He's the outlier here.

We went to tele reporting for small stuff years ago.....and unless there is a serial number or tag number to enter into NCIC that needs to have a signature to it, we can handle that over the px. DV cases have to be signed as well as serious felonies.

In a perfect world, we could learn a ton from this as an agency......and trim overhead costs significantly. I won't hold my breath.

I know that younger officers on my squad are learning that having cash on hand at the house is nice, gasoline, sundries, flashlights, ways to cook outdoors, etc. are all nice to have as this is the second time we have had a city wide event. Last time was tornadoes that took out nuclear power lines to the city and we were in the dark for a week. Lightweight prepping has shown it's value.....especially in having ammunition on hand for moderate volume shooters.

I give myself an A minus as an officer being prepared for this. My agency? A solid F.

Our agency was just notified by Big Navy that, effective today, any employee going to work or a common space on any base has to have a minimum of a cloth face mask, unless they can guarantee minimum 6' social distancing. Of course, there was no guidance on when/how we were going to be issued masks - I'm still holding onto the one and only mask in my crime scene kit in case we have a scene that needs processing.

On the question of paperless case files, I'm a HUGE fan. Of course, we've been "paperless" for multiple years now, but I'm still required to maintain a hard copy of each of my case files in my office; as is the admin point at my Supervisor's office. So, basically, we're "only" maintaining two hard copies of everything we do now, instead of the three or more we used to do...

Most of us ride as 2 man units. I suggested 1 man units because the 4 that tested positive are all partners. Leadership scoffed at the idea. I work in a proactive unit and arrests are down significantly. They think that officers riding solo will kill morale and productivity even more. They must not realize that officers testing positive is the morale killer.

On Thursday, GA's governor issued an executive order under the Emergency Powers Act suspending all local "shelter" ordinances. He put in place a statewide order, but he reserved the power to enforce that order to the Department of Public Health, the Department of Public Safety (GSP, MCCD, Capitol Police) and the Adjutant General (National Guard).

On Friday, he issued a subsequent order adding the Offices of the Sheriff to those who may enforce the provisions of the order.

The order has numerous exceptions for travel, outdoor exercise, essential services, etc. Among them is the distribution of firearms and ammunition. These exceptions are not affirmative defenses. The burden of proof is still on the state, and stopping people to check to see if they are traveling per an exception would be unconstitutional. At minimum, reasonable articulable suspicion of a violation must be present in order to make a stop.

Our local environmental health (linked to DPH) is going to remain the point on all business regulation issues. They will attempt to seek cooperation. If they can't achieve this, the SO will assist, but no enforcement action will be taken without either the Sheriff's or my prior approval.

The only normalcy we have right now is that we are still America, and we are going to cling to that ideal.

The governor has issued a subsequent order that any peace officer may enforce the shelter/travel restrictions but only those listed above may enforce the business restrictions.

I had an ER nurse in a class. I noticed she kept taking all head shots. Her response when asked why, "'I've seen too many people who have been shot in the chest putting up a fight in the ER." Point taken.

We will be having a line of duty death funeral within a week and I was curious as to how it would be done given the current social distancing requirements. Turns out we're going to do it at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and officers will remain in their cars. The funeral will be live-streamed for the public, as it will not be open to the general public. I'm sure it's a tough decision for our brass, and one I don't envy.

Well....sort of. The reality is that many of the policies mentioned in the article predate the current crisis...in some cases by years. The decriminalization of public camping has more to do with a 9th Circuit decision out of Idaho, that SCOTUS declined to review....the current crisis has exacerbated it however. Even companies like REI have been donating tents and camping gear to the homeless here for years. As for the decarceratuon and depolicing....its been happening for years, but yes our new DA isn't gonna let this crisis go to waste.

On the question of paperless case files, I'm a HUGE fan. Of course, we've been "paperless" for multiple years now, but I'm still required to maintain a hard copy of each of my case files in my office; as is the admin point at my Supervisor's office. So, basically, we're "only" maintaining two hard copies of everything we do now, instead of the three or more we used to do...

Federal bureaucracy at its finest. I recall being told about the BIA's new "paperwork reduction policy", which of course had to be signed for/acknowledged in triplicate.